Weekend Reads 1/7/17

Why One Neuroscientist Started Blasting His Core

If stress is controlled by these few cortical areas—the part of the brain that deals in high-level executive functioning, our beliefs and existential understandings of ourselves—why would any sort of body movement play a part in decreasing stress?

The Death Of Expertise

But democracy...denotes a system of government, not an actual state of equality. It means that we enjoy equal rights versus the government, and in relation to each other. Having equal rights does not mean having equal talents, equal abilities, or equal knowledge. It assuredly does not mean that “everyone’s opinion about anything is as good as anyone else’s."

When the lectionary gives you Matthew

Matthew makes me think that God is strict. Jesus is a teacher concerned with righteousness. "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribe and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven", he says. "You have heard it said," Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. "But I say to you..." he continues. And every single time what Jesus says is even harder to do.

Amazon files patent for 'Death Star' flying warehouse

The patent describes the airborne fulfillment center (AFC) as an airship that could remain at a high altitude, at around 45,000 feet, with a fleet of drones "to deliver ordered items to user designated delivery locations."